The Hungry Earth (TV story)
The Hungry Earth 'is the eighth episode of the fifth series of ''Doctor Who. It was written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Ashley Way and featured Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond with Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. Overview To be added Synopsis Aiming for Rio but landing in Wales in 2020, the Doctor and Amy decide to look into the workings of a drill facility in the local village which is drilling down to discover the source of patches of blue grass found all around the area, when they find that a worker has gone missing, leaving only a sole patch of earth in the middle of the room, to which Amy is also lost, when mysterious heat signatures are detected burrowing miles up through the earth. Capturing one of the creatures, the Doctor recognises it as a member of a long-sleeping race and decides that an accord of peace can now be met... Plot Cwmtaff, Wales 2020 - Mo Northover helps his dyslexic son Elliot to read before heading off to work his overnight shift at a nearby mining station. At the station, project manager Nasreen Chaudhry and his partner Tony Mack, Mo's father-in-law, reach their mark of 21 kilometers and everybody goes home while Mo stays for his shift. That evening, a large patch of earth opens up in the floor; when Mo goes to investigate it, he is gripped by something under the surface and dragged into the earth. The following day, the TARDIS lands by a church in the village. Amy and Rory are annoyed that they missed their target of Rio but the Doctor is intrigued by patches of blue grass and tremors in the ground. While observing a version of Amy and Rory from ten-years in their future, the Doctor spots the mining site and goes off to investigate with Amy in tow. Rory returns Amy's engagement ring to the TARDIS but steps out to be met by Mo's wife Ambrose and Elliot, who mistake him for the policeman they'd called about an odd occurence involving the body of Ambrose's aunt and the coffin containing it missing from their untouched grave. Elliot claims to Rory that he suspects that the grave itself ate the coffin. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Amy arrive at the site, to the bemusement of Nasreen and Tony when steam starts emanating from the patch of earth in the floor. Using Nasreen's equipment to scan it, the room is shaken by tremors and more holes appear in the floor; Tony gets caught in one and Amy attempts to get him out before another one opens up beneath her and starts to drag her down. While the Doctor keeps hold of her, Nasreen gets Tony clear and he sends them to shut down their drill. Before they finish, however, Amy is dragged beneath the surface despite the Doctor's attempts to stop it. Wanting to know what pulled her down when he still hears drilling beneath the ground, the Doctor reconfigures Nasreen's equipment and scans the ground beneath them, discovering a network of tunnels hidden from initial scans and three heat signatures approaching the surface, meaning that whatever took their friends is on it's way up. As the Doctor, Nasreen and Tony make for the church, they are met by Rory, Ambrose and Elliot and a large red dome of energy closes over the town, sealing them inside. Everybody retreats to the church and the Doctor has everybody set up a system of monitoring equipment to watch for anything that approaches. The barricade suddenly cuts off the light when they finish and their attackers send an energy surge that blows all their systems to stop them tracking them. Ambrose suddenly notices Elliot is missing and the Doctor remembers letting him go and get his headphones. Outside, the creatures follow Elliot back to the church but he can't get in because of the jammed door. As everybody attempts to get the door open, the creatures grab Elliot before they can get to him. Ambrose finds his headphones outside and sobs as she is attacked by the creature. Tony pushes it off her but it stings him with his tongue and flees. Sending Ambrose to tend to Tony in the church, the Doctor uses heat sensor glasses to follow the creature and deduces what it is from it's cold blood. He and Rory seal it in Ambrose's van while the barricade goes down and the other's leave; the Doctor notes that both sides now have hostages. Bringing the creature to the church's crypt, the Doctor removes it's mask to reveal the face of a Silurian warrior. Despite her attempts to plead ignorance, she names herself Alaya and proclaims that war will soon occur between humanity and the Silurian race. The Doctor goes back to the others and tells them his plan to go down to the Silurian encampment and negotiate for the return of their friends and family in exchange for Alaya's safe return and leaves her in the care of the humans. Going back to the TARDIS, with Nasreen following him, the ship falls down one of the Silurian's shafts. Rory, Tony and Ambrose visit Alaya in the crypt and she tells them that one of them is certain to kill her and that her death with spark a war large enough to run the human race to extinction. Once the TARDIS stops it's descent, the Doctor and Nasreen go looking through the underground complex looking for the Silurian encampment. Meanwhile, Amy wakes up next to Mo in the Silurian's lab as one of their scientists comes in with a large surgical instrument, ready to dissect Amy as they did Mo. Despite the Doctor's initial suspicion that Alaya came from one small tribe of Sliurians, he and Nasreen stumble across a fully-developed society, living beneath the earth... Cast * The Doctor - Matt Smith * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan * Rory - Arthur Darvill * Alaya - Neve McIntosh * Nasreen Chaudhry - Meera Syal * Tony Mack - Robert Pugh * Ambrose - Nia Roberts * Mo - Alun Raglan * Elliot - Samuel Davies Crew To be added References To be added Story Notes To be added Continuity To be added Home video and audio releases To be added External Links * Official ''The Hungry Earth'' page on '''Doctor Who Website